The Kalamazoo City Commission began discussing the proposed 2027 budget Monday.
According to City Manager Malcolm Hankins, Kalamazoo held a community session and a public survey to get feedback from local residents.
He added that if community members missed those opportunities to give input they’ll have another opportunity on Monday, Nov. 16 during a public hearing on the budget.
“And that again presents another opportunity for the public to weigh in on it, and December 7th is the anticipated date that we'll bring it back for a vote.”
Public safety was a high priority among those who took part in a budget work session and online survey, according to Chief Financial Officer Steve Vicenzi.
This public safety priority is reflected in the proposed budget. Nearly half of the general fund goes to the public safety department, which Vicenzi says is on the low end.
“A look at comparable cities, typically 55 to 60% of a general fund budget is allocated to Public Safety so our current model does provide a general cost savings by comparison,” he said.
According to the city's proposed budget, officer wellness will be a funding priority for public safety.
During Monday's meeting, Public Safety Chief Dave Boysen told commissioners the department was short-staffed, adding that addressing this was important to retaining staff.
“We answer about 400 calls for service per day on average, over a hundred thousand calls for service a year, police and fire. So, they're, the folks are busy and we do worry about their officer wellness. How they’re handling. They see a lot of stressful things throughout their shift.”
